MPs' expenses: James Gray claimed £2,000 for redecoration the day he moved out

James Gray, a Tory MP who cheated on his wife while she was suffering from
cancer, successfully claimed £2,000 for the future redecoration of his
“second home” on the day that he moved out.

Mr Gray said claims for logs were 'within the spirit of the allowances'.Photo: Geoff Pugh

By Caroline Gammell

7:45AM BST 20 May 2009

Mr Gray, the MP for North Wiltshire, submitted the claim on June 14, 2007, the day his lease on the property was terminated.

He wrote to the fees office to tell them that he was embroiled in a row with the landlord about the cost of the planned renovations that his ex-wife Sarah wanted to carry out on the property. “My ex-wife, who has taken on a new lease on the property, has proposed that she should redecorate to an acceptable standard,” he said. “I have indicated that I would be content to pay half that sum.”

A few days later, on June 22, he wrote again to tell them a sum had been finalised: “I have now agreed a figure of £2,000 for the redecoration and restoration... and have sent off a cheque for that amount. I would be most grateful if you would reimburse me for it.”

The £2,000 was subsequently paid. Mr Gray simultaneously claimed £5,000 to cover the cost of moving to a new property nearby with Philippa Mayo, his former mistress. He also asked the fees office to reimburse £2,500 a month in rent — a monthly increase of £1,155 — until he had used up his annual additional costs allowance.

The fees office told him he would not receive the sum automatically, but agreed to pay if Mr Gray made the claim each month on his allowance. He subsequently received four monthly payments of £2,500, before being paid £2,482.63 in December 2007 when he had reached the limit.

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In the files seen by The Daily Telegraph, which date back to 2004, Mr Gray claimed for £190 worth of logs and tried to claim £45.37 for a phone bill registered at his main London home, which was rejected. Yesterday, the MP said: “It is true that I claimed £90 per year for logs and this is within the spirit of the allowances.

“The submission of a BT bill for my main home of £47 was a genuine error, was picked up in the normal claims process and was never paid. In June 2007 I terminated the lease of [...] and moved to [...]. Under the terms of the lease for (the former home) I paid £2,000 for dilapidation caused by 10 years of occupation directly to the landlord. Since moving, because of the higher rent, I have made no claim at all for council tax or utilities. I am confident that all of my claims against the ACA have been entirely within the rules.”

Mr Gray employs Mrs Mayo as his diary secretary, a role which used to be carried out by his former wife. In 2006, he admitted that he had a 19-month affair with Mrs Mayo, 46, who was also married, while his 53-year-old wife was being treated for breast cancer.

The news prompted protests in his Wiltshire constituency and party members tried twice to get Mr Gray deselected. Mrs Mayo’s former husband Rupert, a barrister, wrote to a local newspaper saying the MP had “ripped my family apart”.